RemoteDroid

What is this?

Some TVs (e.g. the Thomson Go Plus 32UE5M45) run plain Android — not Android TV — and behave like a touchscreen Android tablet inside. They come without a remote, so every time you have to walk up to the TV and tap the screen yourself.

RemoteDroid fixes that: an app installed on the TV serves a web remote (a PWA) that you open from your phone's browser. You glide a cursor around the TV with your finger (like a laptop trackpad), raise and lower the volume, and type text to send — all over the local network, without root, via Android's Accessibility Service.

How it works

 Phone (browser / PWA)  ──ws://tv-ip:8080──►  TV (Android + RemoteDroid)
   touchpad · volume · keyboard    JSON commands     Accessibility Service
                                                      dispatchGesture / ACTION_SET_TEXT

1. Open the app on the TV, Start the server and enable the Accessibility service.
2. Scan the on-screen QR with your phone camera → the remote opens in the browser (auto-connects with the token).
3. Drag the cursor with the touchpad and tap; use the volume/navigation buttons; type into the keyboard box and send it all at once.

Features

• Touchpad-first: relative cursor (overlay on the TV), single tap, two-finger scroll.
• Volume: up / down / mute.
• Keyboard: type into the box → the whole text lands in the TV's field at once (Enter/Search included, Android 11+).
• Navigation: Home · Back · Recents.
• QR pairing: address + token in a single code; only the paired device can control the TV.
• No root, no extra device.

Project layout

Build & run

PWA (remote):

cd client-pwa
npm install
npm run dev      # development
npm test         # unit tests
npm run build    # dist/ → embedded into the Android assets

Android server (TV):

Requirements: JDK 17–21 and the Android SDK (compileSdk 35, build-tools 35). If your default java is newer, point JAVA_HOME at a 17–21 JDK (Gradle 8.9 does not run on newer JDKs). local.properties is not in the repo; create it on first open with sdk.dir=/path/to/Android/SDK (or have ANDROID_HOME set).

cd server-android
export JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 21)"   # macOS example; any JDK 17–21 works
./gradlew :app:testDebugUnitTest   # unit tests
./gradlew :app:assembleDebug       # APK (PWA embedded automatically)
# Output: app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk → sideload to the TV

Limitations

• It can't power on a TV that's off (no Wake-on-WiFi path); it can put one to sleep.
• Same local network only; over http (token-protected). No internet access.
• No screen mirroring — you use it while looking at the TV (blind touchpad).
• Accessibility text injection works best in search/URL boxes.

License

Apache-2.0.